


Mutual Fascination

by SpiritOfSakura



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Human, Fairy Circles, Flower Symbolism, Fluff, Human!Deceit, Language of Flowers, M/M, fae!Logan, this was going to be a oneshot but I’m breaking it up whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:22:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26082619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritOfSakura/pseuds/SpiritOfSakura
Summary: Janus doesn’t expect to find a fairy ring while out on a walk in the woods.And he *definitely* doesn’t expect anything to happen when he steps into it.But now his day has suddenly gotten a lot more interesting, and his worldview is crumbling in the face of this stranger with the deepest blue eyes Janus has ever seen.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	Mutual Fascination

**Author's Note:**

> Should I have written the third and final chapter to my other Sanders Sides fic by now? Yes. Did I start writing two other fics instead? Also yes.
> 
> This was going to be a oneshot but I got to the end of this first chapter and decided it was a good place to stop, and I really wanted to post what I had. So here you go.
> 
> The title might change later if I ever think of something better.
> 
> (TW for brief, non-detailed dead animal mention as well as a brief mention of Bikini Atoll.)

It really was a good day for a walk, Janus decided as he picked his way along the forest trail. Sighing in contentment at the gentle breeze that cooled his skin and was just strong enough to keep the gnats away, he glanced upwards. Through the canopy of leaves above him, gray clouds drifted overhead, letting beams of sunlight through here and there. Overcast, but not likely to rain—but with just enough of an  _ appearance _ of imminent rain to bring the chances of running into others out here down from slim to practically zero. And since Janus came out here to be alone, well, that was just perfect.  
  


...Well. If he was being completely honest (ha, imagine  _ that _ ), it wasn’t that he wanted to be  _ entirely _ alone, necessarily. He wouldn’t have minded Remus’s company today. But his friend was working on another one of his “secret projects” (and a rather big one at that, based on the amount of poorly-contained excitement Remus had any time he spoke of it) and hadn’t wanted to pull himself away from it, not even for the possibility of finding something new for his bone collection. So today, it was just Janus out here, away from the noise and bustle of everyday life, alone with his thoughts. Which was fine. That was usually why he came here in the first place.

Still, it had become strangely quiet out here, now that he was paying attention. There was still birdsong and the like, the occasional sounds of small creatures rustling in the trees or in the undergrowth, but it seemed...oddly subdued. Almost expectant, somehow. As if the forest was... _ waiting _ for something.

Janus snorted and shook his head. “Ridiculous,” he muttered aloud, certainly  _ not _ to ease any sort of slight nervousness that might have cropped up with that train of thought. “Remus is definitely rubbing off on me if that’s where my thoughts are going.” And in fact he could imagine it now, how the taller man’s eyes would light up in that near-frantic way they did when he latched on to an idea, and how he’d begin spinning some elaborate story of all the horrors that no doubt lurked in these woods and the fate that would await the two men when they were inevitably caught and killed—going into all the fine, grotesque detail he could, of course. It  _ was _ Remus, after all. 

Janus smiled to himself and huffed a fond sigh before continuing onward down the trail. A short while later, he paused again, noticing a splash of color almost completely hidden from view by the lush undergrowth that covered the ground. Stretching out a leg, he toed some of the greenery aside to reveal a dead blue jay, its small body covered with a swarm of tiny black ants. Grimacing, Janus pulled out his phone and snapped a couple photos, then reached into the bag he always brought with him on these trips. After a moment, he pulled out a bundle of thin metal rods, each with a little yellow flag attached to one end. He separated one from the bundle and stuck it in the ground next to the dead bird, then put the rest away and began walking once more. He’d have to show Remus the pictures later; he was sure the man would be thrilled by the find.

He wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been walking for, but eventually, Janus found himself beginning to sweat; though the breeze helped, it  _ was _ still summer, and a bit humid. Pausing to fish out his water bottle from his bag and take a long drink, he eyed the trees around him. This particular trail was one he hadn’t been on before, but it looked like there was some sort of clearing a little ways off the path. Stepping carefully, mindful of where he was placing his feet as well as where the trail lay behind him, Janus made his way into the clearing, looking around for the best place to sit for a moment.

Only for his gaze to land on the flowers growing in the middle of the glade. 

They were tall, spiny things with jagged leaves, each stem topped with a large, spherical blue crown of petals.  _ Globe thistle, _ Janus realized after a moment. He walked closer to the flowers, his brow furrowing at the sight of them—or more accurately, at their formation. For rather than spreading across the clearing, or simply forming a haphazard cluster of the plant where the sunlight made it through the trees, these thistles were arranged in a perfectly uniform circle, with not a single stray sprout to be seen.

_ Fairy ring _ . The words flashed through Janus’s mind, and he suddenly recalled a conversation he and Remus had had a few weeks prior. Remus had been going on a rather long-winded ramble about fae folklore, everything from kelpies to changelings to banshees. And then he had paused and looked at Janus with his trademark manic, shit-eating grin, and asked him a question.

_ “On a scale from one to Bikini Atoll, how much would your mind be blown if you actually  _ met _ a fae?” _

Janus had, of course, rolled his eyes at that. Fairies weren’t  _ real _ , but pointing this out to his friend had only served to egg him on.  _ “Explain fairy rings, then!” _ he had demanded. 

__ “They’re formed from fungi that—“  
  


_ “What about ones formed from flowers? I bet you wouldn’t step into one of  _ those _!” _

_ “Those don’t  _ exist  _ unless they’re grown artificially—“ _

But apparently, they did.

Janus eyed the flowers again and sighed. He could already imagine Remus’s reaction once he learned that Janus had found this fairy ring. And more to the point, his reaction upon learning Janus  _ hadn’t stepped into it.  _ If he really wanted to, the man could easily tease him about it for  _ weeks _ . 

So Janus paused, preemptively shook his head at himself for giving in, and carefully stepped between the prickly thistle stems and into the circle. 

...And then promptly fell back on his ass with an undignified yelp, staring up in shock at the tall, dark-haired stranger who was now blinking down at him with eyes the color of the ocean’s depths.

**Author's Note:**

> Echinops (globe thistle): independence, nobility


End file.
